Corner off the board at 23 for the Vikings?

Is that no longer the best option for the pick?

Here we go.

As you’ve already heard by now, the Minnesota Vikings have signed former Patriots cornerback Joejuan Williams, a 25-year-old who was the 45th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Vanderbilt who has played 36 games for New England in his young career. Williams is a tall, athletic corner who is 6 foot 4 inches and weighs just over the 200-pound mark.

The Vikings also signed cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. just a few weeks back, a former member of the Arizona Cardinals. With Murphy assumably in the CB1 spot, younger corners like Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans will have the chance to learn under the crafty veteran who is known to be able to lock down anyone outside the numbers or in the slot.

With all that being said, the Vikings have been bolstering their young cornerback group with, hopefully, the necessary tools to not only be successful this year but also to develop a successful future for this group.

The current cornerbacks for your Minnesota Vikings are:

• Byron Murphy Jr.
• Andrew Booth Jr.
• Akayleb Evans
• Joejuan Williams
• Tay Gowen

With the addition of Joejuan Williams, who figures to be the prototypical big body, man-press corner that Brian Flores so deeply covets, and Byron Murphy who can play just about every position in the defensive backfield, the focus shifts to the two young guns. Andrew Booth and Akayleb Evans could see a smaller early season role due to dealing with injuries. There is no need to rush them back if they are not 100% by the season opener and this signing gives us that flexibility.

With the two off-season signings and the two younger talents from last year’s draft, did the Vikings do enough to avoid taking another defensive back with our 2023 first-round selection? Or do you think that we need to continue adding to the group with early-round talent this year to ensure that something like last year’s defensive struggles won’t continue?